The Cyclist's Training Bible [Paperback]

Joe Friel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 12, 2009

Coach Joe Friel is the most trusted name in endurance sports coaching, and his Cyclist’s Training Bible is the most comprehensive and reliable training resource ever written for cyclists. This new edition of the bestselling book includes all of the latest advances in training and technology. Using this book, cyclists can create a comprehensive, self-coached training plan that is both scientifically proven and shaped around their personal goals.

Friel empowers athletes with every detail they need to consider when planning a season, lining up a week of workouts, or preparing to race. This fourth edition includes extensive revisions on the specifics of how to train and what to eat. Friel explains how cyclists can:

• use power meters to balance fatigue and recovery and maximize fitness and form;
• more knowledgeably and accurately make changes to their annual training plan over the course of a season;
• dramatically build muscular endurance with strength training;
• improve body composition and recovery with smarter nutrition.

With more case studies to draw from and multiple contingency plans for those times when training doesn’t progress as planned, The Cyclist’s Training Bible continues to be the definitive guide to optimal cycling performance.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Periodization," nutrition, stretching, peaking--who knew that so much went into riding a bike? Joe Friel's The Cyclist's Training Bible is jam-packed with information, easily the most authoritative book on cycling to date. Friel, a lauded coach and masters athlete from Colorado, adopts the principles of Dr. Tudor Bompa, whose periodization training methods were used first by the dominant Eastern European athletes of the 1960s before becoming popular in the United States. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Joe Friel is arguably the most experienced personal cycling coach in the U.S., and his book The Cyclist's Training Bible has become, well... the Bible of the sport." — Bicycling magazine

"I find Friel's book a treasure of information for cyclists of all levels." — Andy Hampsten, 1988 Giro d'Italia winner, 1992 Tour de France stage winner at Alpe d'Huez

"This book will have you systematically training just as world-class cyclists do. If you scrupulously follow its guidelines, I'm confident your racing performance will dramatically improve." — Tudor Bompa, PhD

“Nothing else comes close to The Cyclist’s Training Bible's comprehensive approach to planning out a season, creating a training schedule and incorporating diet and resistance training to an overall plan.” — BikeRumor.com

"Packed with worksheets, charts, visuals and a dense index and references for further reading, The Cyclist’s Training Bible is an arsenal of encyclopedic information for ambitious riders." — DailyPeloton.com

"The Cyclist's Training Bible has become a cyclist's best chance at achieving their goals. This is the ultimate manual for growth as a cyclist." — BicycleSmile.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Velo Press; Fourth Edition, New edition, 4th Ed. edition (March 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934030201
• ISBN-13: 978-1934030202
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.9 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Cycling
  • #41 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Coaching > Training & Conditioning

More About the Author

"Joe Friel has a masters degree in exercise science and has trained endurance athletes since 1980. His clients include elite amateur and professional road cyclists, mountain bikers, and triathletes and duathletes. His clients have included national champions, world championship competitors, and an Olympian.

He is the author of several training books and is a contributor to several magazines and websites around the world and offers clinics, seminars, and camps for athletes and coaches. He also consults with national sport federations and with businesses in the fitness industry. He is the cofounder of TrainingPeaks.com and TrainingBible Coaching.

As an age-group competitor, Joe has been a Colorado State Masters Triathlon champion, a Rocky Mountain region and Southwest region duathlon age-group champion, and a perennial USA Triathlon All-American duathlete. He also competes in bicycle races.

For information on coaching, speaking, or consulting services, contact him by email at [e-mail] or through his blog at www.joefrielsblog.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

148 of 150 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Training Book Available September 22, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Having studied most of the works of Armstrong, Lemond, Hinault, Burke, Carmichael, etc. and having used personal trainers including Kirk Willett, the current Prime Alliance GM, I can say that this is the one book you simply cannot do without if you want to race a bicycle. Whether you want to train 100 hours a year as a first year racer, or are looking to rack up a thousand hours and get your first real pro contract, you will benefit from this text.

I work about a 50-60 hour week and raise a family. There is no way I could have achieved the level of cycling proficiency I have without this text. It makes the amount of time I decide to spend training pay dividends on race day.

This book has two potential drawbacks. First, it is possible to get too wrapped up in the minutae of planning each and every workout for the next six months. Friel offers literally hundreds of possible workouts to choose from, and a system for selecting workouts that will help you approach each ride with a specific purpose. So long as you have some ability to read and apply both principals and a suitable level of detail, this book can not be beat.

My second issue is that I have worn out the binding from so much use and now need to buy a new copy.

77 of 78 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is not for everyone...Thank God April 6, 2003

By John Hill

Format:Paperback

If your idea of a good season is to just ride, or be pack fill until the hills then don't waste your money. On the otherhand, if you can set goals, want results and need to raise your performance year over year then get this book. You have to read, understand and follow the content of this book closely. If you can, then you will be able to set up a year 'round training program which will provide the results you have been looking for. This book is technical. You will have to focus as with any effective performance program. No, you really don't need the expensive testing stuff. You can get the same test information with a cheap wind trainer or the recommended time trial tests. A bike, a good heart rate monitor, this book and a true desire to get faster (in this order)is all you need.

176 of 192 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Overly complicated program, but useful for the dedicated April 14, 2001

By J. Grattan TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It is a little unclear for whom this book has been written. Professional, world class cyclists have their own training systems and don't need this book. It's difficult to see how 9-to-5ers who race on weekends have the time to follow a training program as complicated as this one.

The author starts by describing the basic cycling abilities of speed, endurance, and strength and goes on to describe the advanced abilities of muscular endurance, speed-endurance, and power. His training program consists of "periods" that emphasize the specific training of those abilities in varying proportions.

Those periods are Base I,II,III, Build I,II, Peak, and Compete. Throw in the factors of frequency, duration, intensity for all of the training periods, as well as lactate and cardiovascular monitoring and you have got yourself one complicated program. There is a lot of overlap in the training: to say that this manner of riding is this kind of training can seem somewhat arbitrary.

As a long-time runner and cyclist, I can attest to the fact that numerous training books exist for runners that are far easier to follow than is this one. There are a few basic workouts that can make one a successful runner. It is the opinion of this reviewer that the author would better serve those likely to buy this book or a next one if he would make the effort to simplify and reduce his descriptions of basic physiological systems and the corresponding training needed. And the author does readily admit that some cyclists are successful without going through such a complicated schedule. There must be some middle ground here.